Managing and operating a large, ticketed music, arts or sporting event involves overcoming challenges at every turn. From navigating venues and vendors through to a secure ticket booking system, event organisation is multi-faceted and requires clear and streamlined coordination.
Thankfully, event technology is always improving for a smooth experience from planning to execution. Lately, improvements can be seen in COVID conscious updates and live streaming capabilities with a rise in scheduling applications targeted specifically to event organisation.
Today, Gig Nation takes a small glimpse at emerging concepts and changes within the applications and software of events technology.
Photo: Joshua Hanson
Intuitive event planning and management
Event management software has come a long way since the days before the cloud and subscription-based platforms. Remember when you had to pay an eye-watering amount upfront for software to be installed in your office’s server lock-up, receiving update discs every year or so in the mail?
There are now so many specialist subscription software models out there, riding the cloud, that cater to the needs of event managers with a focus on automating event planning and venue sourcing.
Muzeek
Established in Australia in 2012 with the live music industry in mind, Muzeek is an automated platform for shared calendars, booking management, workflow tracking and contract storage. The software can also track engagement and assemble event flyers while making sure all the relevant information around vendors and schedules is available to your team at any time.
The Sydney-based software is integrated with Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, Eventbrite, PayPal and Squarespace with plans to integrate MailChimp, slack and Xero in the future. With so many plans to better the service, this app is one to consider when planning a live event in Australia.
FestivalPro
For multiple-day festivals and largescale events, there’s FestivalPro. With over 10 years of providing event management software and web development catering to festivals and event organisers, this application covers a range of tasks including artist liaisons, stage scheduling, vendor coordination, staff management, ticketing and marketing.
Used by Artist Network Australia and the Brisbane Writers Festival, this app is ready to undertake the in-depth planning of multiple day events.
Photo: Media Modifier
Attendee tracking and real-time data for COVID conscious events
It’s no surprise that the Australian events industry has had to respond to changing restrictions and cancellations. This uncertainty around numbers makes ticket sale tracking and check-in information more important than ever. Some applications have changed their technology to ensure that every area of your live event meets COVID capacity restrictions at any moment.
Trybooking
Melbourne-based, self-service booking platform, Trybooking have recently updated their systems to encompass socially distanced seating plans. The ticketing service was already overflowing with tools including attendee registration, ticket sales, event pages and live tracking, but has recently updated their service to be more COVID conscious.
For seated live music or sporting events, Trybooking now allows event organisers to set the ticketing system to automatically block one to five seats on either side of bookings and ensure their event falls in line with their state’s social distancing requirements and COVID restrictions.
With ticket scanning capabilities including barcode, QR code and RFID available on staff mobile devices or through local device hire, and gate management capabilities to reduce crowded areas, Trybooking has quickly adapted to the current Australian market.
Eventbrite Organiser
Eventbrite has become a household name for online ticketing on a budget, with a simple platform for managing event sales that allows the organiser to view ticket sales in real-time. The Eventbrite Organiser app was designed to make Australian event organisation easier by combining ticket sales, ticket scanning and attendee check-in in one platform.
The app scans the QR code of the attendees’ ticket using the device’s camera for easy check-in without purchasing specialist hardware. This application also has the benefits of live attendance tracking of the venue and collating all attendees and their contact data – a valuable asset for events facing the challenges of COVID restrictions and changing capacity limits.
Virtual and hybrid events
If your event is making the transition to an online platform, there are plenty of software options available to help you seamlessly integrate your event online. This includes gamification options and engagement opportunities to keep attendees invested and exploring the web-based event. Online events have certainly made their place within the events industry, allowing easy accessibility when travel is so uncertain.
Cvent Attendee Hub
A well-known event management solution used by the Australian Marketing Institute and the New Zealand Events Association, Cvent Attendee Hub is a flexible platform with in-person, virtual and hybrid capabilities for attendees. As an all-in-one virtual event provider, the service is overflowing with possibilities from social marketing, ticketing, gamification through to exhibit management.
Cvent Attendee Hub allows visitors to browse and select sessions of your event with high-quality live video. Attendees can also connect with collaborative sessions and engage with a native mobile app branded for your event. The platform also monitors attendees’ clicks and views, promises integration with many customer management systems, and provides the opportunity to collect feedback and attendee insight through surveys, providing all the marketing data needed to make your next virtual event bigger and better.
Hopin
A newly established brand, Hopin emerged in 2019 to better facilitate livestream events for up to 100,000 attendees. With a virtual lobby, customisable branding and attendee management capabilities, this live streaming software could offer the virtual component your live event needed and is perfect for larger crowds.
The web-based application promises ease of event creation for when you need to switch to a virtual event quickly with gamification options like polls and quizzes to keep attendees engaged. Hopin allows event managers to easily create a hybrid or virtual venue with a customised reception page, event stages and an unlimited number of concurrent event sessions for multiple live acts.
This application is perfect for larger live events and offers customisable content areas like videos, presentations and playlists to be embedded throughout the event, taking the strain off quick talent transitions. This up-and-coming software has already hosted 48,000 events by January 2021 alone.
Photo: Quick Order
Eventbookings
Created in 2017, this new Australian software platform aims to make ticketing and event management easy for virtual events with a competitive pricing model.
Eventbookings combines ticket sales, attendee registration, online event page creation, live streaming and virtual networking for online events, the online event platform streamlines the coordination of both venue and online events. With free event hosting in their online event platform and plans to create a mobile application in the future, this Australian subscription service is one to watch.
In Summary
Events technology is an exciting space for emerging and transforming concepts and design. With plenty of apps and software available to ease the organisation process, facilitate COVID restrictions or increase online accessibility, technology plays a fast-paced and dynamic role within the Australian events industry.
Feature Photo: Austin Distel on Unsplash
